Michael Greif

January 30, 1992 | ALEENE MacMINN, Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation's press

La Jolla Bookings: The La Jolla Playhouse announced Wednesday that its 1992 season will open with Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" (May 10-June 14), followed by the Flying Karamazov Brothers in "Le Petomane," their irreverent farce about the Gay '90s (June 14-July 12). The West Coast premiere of Jose Rivera's "Marisol" (Sept. 16-Oct. 18) will play in rotating repertory with "The Swan" by Elizabeth Egloff (Sept. 13-Oct. 18). Des McAnuff's staging of "Much Ado About Nothing" (Oct. 25-Nov.

Daphne Rubin-Vega and Adam Pascal, the romantic leads of Michael Greif's Broadway production of "Rent," will perform at the La Jolla Playhouse's "Monday Night Live Overnight Express: Direct From New York to La Jolla--Broadway Showstoppers" gala on Dec. 9. Stars from the Broadway productions of "Cats" and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" will also perform. Stars from the Broadway productions of "Cats" and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" will also perform.

Dorothy Louise Johnston, 70, a member of the board of trustees of the La Jolla Playhouse and a leading benefactor of that institution, died May 28 at her home in La Jolla. The cause of death was a carcinoid tumor. Beginning in 1983, Johnston was an active member of the playhouse's board.

Michael C. Hall, an Emmy nominee for his work as mortician David Fisher in HBO's just-ended series "Six Feet Under," has traded one offbeat role for another. Hall, who was starring on Broadway as the Emcee in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of "Cabaret" in 2000 when he was cast in the pay cable show, will return to the stage in the disturbing title role in Roundabout's New York premiere of Noah Haidle's dark comedy "Mr. Marmalade," about a child and her unwholesome imaginary friend.

What's happening the next few weeks: * The B-52s, above, play May 17 and 18 at Humphrey's, 2241 Shelter Island Drive. (619) 523-1010 or tickets though Ticketmaster. * Mark Lewis and Paul Oakenfold play the San Diego Sports Arena, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego, on May 12. (619) 224-4171 or tickets through Ticketmaster.

Three plays launched with Southland premieres will show up at points east in the fall. Richard Greenberg's "A Naked Girl on the Appian Way" will open on the Great White Way -- specifically, at the American Airlines Theatre -- on Oct. 6 as the first offering of the Roundabout Theatre Company's 40th anniversary season. The production is to be directed by Doug Hughes, a recent Tony winner for "Doubt." South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa commissioned and initially produced "Naked Girl" in April.

S. Epatha Merkerson, who plays the no-nonsense New York cop, Lt. Anita Van Buren, on "Law & Order," is poised to become a modern-day Hester Prynne in Suzan-Lori Parks' new play based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel, "The Scarlet Letter." Quoting sources at New York's Public Theater, where performances are scheduled to begin Feb. 25, the New York Times and Broadway.